Pittsburgh vs Tampa Bay. I picked Tampa Bay for some reason (Crosby anyone?) and they won.

Summing up the Eastern Conference. Three correct, one incorrect. Not too shabby for an East coast fan. Now on to the West!

Vancouver vs Chicago. I picked Vancouver, but I have to admit... when they blew the three games to none lead and Chicago forced game seven, I became a true blooded, through and through Blackhawks fan. The Bruins blew a three game lead and lost last year, but I think on some level it would have been even more pathetic if #1 seed Vancouver did the same to #8 seed Chicago. That's bullshit, of course, but in my injured little mind (I have not forgotten the pain of last year, and neither should you, Boston fans) it would have made last year slightly less horrible. But, Vancouver won it.

San Jose vs Los Angeles. I once vowed never to pick San Jose again, but with the injuries in L.A. I had to, and I was right to do so. San Jose won.

Detroit vs Phoenix. What the hell was I thinking when I picked Phoenix. Wrong, wrong wrong.

So in the West I was 2-2 which makes me 5-3 over all. Not as good as I would have liked, but not bad. Hey, I have a better winning percentage than the Boston Red Sox!

Now, on to the second round!

The Washington Capitals vs The Tampa Bay Lightening. Washington is going to blow Tampa out of the universe. That's not going to deter me from going out on a limb and picking Tampa Bay. Why? Because Washington is the San Jose of the East and we all know they are going to choke, so why not choke against a former U Lowell goalie? Dwayne Roloson will make the Mill City (that he probably doesn't even remember) proud by knocking off the Caps. Lightening win.

The Boston Bruins vs the Philadelphia Flyers. Oh no... not again. Last year my heroic Bruins earned their spot in history as the biggest choke artists ever, and they did it against the Flyers. Folks around here are talking about how this will be revenge for last year and how we now have a chance to exorcise last year's demons. To that I say, bullshit. Nothing will ever make up for last year's implosion. Nothing. Ever. It will always be with us. A Stanley Cup win this year will make me happy, but it will not make me forget about the horrors we witnessed last year. Nothing will. Ever. That being said, I am picking the Bruins to win this series. Mostly because I am a total homer, but partly because I want some revenge over those damn Flyers.

On to the West!

The Vancouver Canucks vs the Nashville Predators. There are four teams left in the West. Two of them have developed reputations in recent years for choking like insufferable losers. Conveniently there is one in each series. In this case it is Vancouver, who despite having a goalie god, have not been able to get out of the second round. Luongo is the man. Why then does he suck so bad in the post season? He's like Joe Thornton with leg pads. Still... I cannot pick against Vancouver in this one. Nashville has a goalie god of their own, but I just don't see that being enough. Unless Luongo's play earns him a spot on the pine, Vancouver should win this one. Even if he does end up riding the bench (see the first round) they should win. I'm picking Vancouver.

The San Jose Sharks vs the Detroit Red Wings. And here we have it. San Jose. The uber chokers. Every year a magnificent collapse (although they have yet to blow a 3-0 series lead, like a certain team I happen to root for). Detroit, the model franchise. The pride of the NHL. Yeah, like San Jose has a prayer. Detroit wins, and they probably win easily. San Jose has beaten Detroit in the post season before... but not this time, Charlie. Detroit wins this series.

There you have it, my totally unintelligent and completely pointless picks for the NHL Conference Semi Finals! I'm 5-3 so far, let's hope I don't get worse (like I always do in the second round)!

We had a happy Easter yesterday. We went to my sister's for dinner. I had three nephews and a niece there to marvel at. The oldest of the bunch being three months shy of his third birthday. The kids were adorable and a whole pile of fun.

There were two downsides though. One was that Jen had to work. I sneaked away to take some pictures around town, but I would have much rather spent the morning with her. The other was that we didn't have Jen's kids for the holiday. They were on their way to the Caribbean for a week. It wasn't our weekend anyway, but I really missed them yesterday.

Outside of those two things, it was a very nice Easter.

The Bruins and Red Sox are both off tonight. What are we going to do with ourselves?

The Bruins won in double overtime last night. Dice-K pitched another gem for the Red Sox last night.

I listened to the whole Bruins game and then switched over to the Sox for the last few innings. If I seem sleepy today, that's why.

We are going to my sister's today. There should be a niece and three nephews to play with. It's going to be great. The only downer being that my step kids won't be with us. They left for a week long cruise to the caribbean this morning. I miss them already.

If Easter is something you celebrate, then Happy Easter! If not, then have a great Sunday!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Halfway into the second period tonight Jen and I went to bed. She sparked up her Kindle while I turned on the radio.com app to listen to the game while reading the last story in Stephen King's, "Full Dark, No Stars."

When the game went to overtime I stopped reading and went to twitter on my phone.

My battery is down to 33%. I've used my home defribulator about seven times. That thing totally paid for itself tonight.

Overtime hockey (pause for heart attack #8 as Krejci breaks in but doesn't score) during the playoffs is just way to stressful.

Friday, April 22, 2011

The NHL fined Andrew Ference $2500.00 today for his obscene gesture toward a camera in Montreal last night. (see my previous post for the shocking visual) Andrew said he didn't do it. He was pumping his fist and his glove got messed up and the finger on the glove stuck up. I 100% believe his equipment malfunction story. Yes. 100%. No sarcasm at all. He's telling the truth.

Here is the Free Andrew Ference t-shirt. All proceeds go to paying his fine, and once that's paid off then all proceeds go to the charity of his choice. Who ever said hockey fans were a bunch of violence loving gorillas?

I didn't watch any of the Bruins or Red Sox games last night. I did catch the last couple of innings of my step daughter's softball game. Two of her teammates hit home runs. I saw one. The one I missed was a grand slam. Her team won 9-3. It sort of got the ball rolling.

I guess Michael Ryder got tired of people like me referring to him as dead weight.

The Bruins won in overtime to tie the series at two games a piece. Now it's a three game series with two games in Boston. You'd think that would be a good thing, but the road team has won every game so far. I still have zero confidence in my team. That doesn't mean I'm giving up, it just means I am preparing myself for the worst possible outcome.

The Red Sox won in 11 innings last night. They have improved their record to a still pathetic 7-11. They are still last in the Eastern Division (four games behind the Yankees) but now there are four teams in the majors with worse records! Things are definitely on the up swing.

All three of the teams I was rooting for won last night. Pretty surprising.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

The last two days I wasn't feeling very good. Today I am a little better. Still very tired, but not as bad as I was yesterday morning. Unfortunately, Jen and both kids are now feeling less than 100%. Jen and I need to be better by Sunday so that we can go to Easter Dinner and not get my mother sick. The kids need to be better because those lucky little people are going on a cruise to the Caribbean! Everyone get better, right now!!!

As for my mother, she is temporarily off of the main chemotherapy drug, methotrexate. She went into the hospital for a dose of it but there is something happening in her kidney that needs to be watched. They don't know if it is actually related to the chemo or if it may be related to her having a borderline case of diabetes. Whatever it is, she's off of it for the next few weeks. If whatever level it is is better in a few weeks she will go back on the methotrexate, but at a lower dose. The good news is that the doctors told her the tumor is small enough to be negligible, but they need to keep going with the chemotherapy in order to keep it from coming back.

She hasn't had any side effects from the chemo. Maybe this is the first one. Maybe it's unrelated. Whatever the cause is I don't know, but I do know that I was feeling really upbeat and confident about the whole situation and now the nerves and paranoia are creeping back in.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Sox lost last night. I missed it. I had it on the radio and made it to the first pitch. That was it. Done. Stupid West coast games.

I haven't read any recaps, but it sounds like Lackey had a good game. That's good news.

Why aren't the Bruins playing game four tonight? What's with this two days off crap? Sometimes I hate the NHL scheduling.

I don't feel terribly well. I can't put my finger on it. I wonder if I'm just bordering on exhausted. I shouldn't be. I've been getting decent sleep. I just feel wrong. A little sinus stuffy, a little scratchy sore throat, a little coughing, but just wrong. I had a screaming headache yesterday evening but that was probably related to reading without my glasses. I just want to go to sleep.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Maybe I should complain more often? (is it even possible for some one who complains constantly to complain more often?)

The Bruins and the Red Sox both pulled off wins yesterday. Matsuzaka was awesome, pitching seven shut out, one hit innings. Jed Lowrie's batting average is over .500! FIVE HUNDRED! Three wins in a row. Now they fly out west to face Oakland, and Lackie pitches tonight. (so there goes the win streak)

The Bruins did what seems like the only thing you need to do to win a playoff game these days: They scored the first goal. The wonders ne'er cease. The team, smartly, is not hanging around Montreal between games three and four. They are hiding out in Lake Placid, NY in an attempt to protect Zdeno Chara from the ire of Canadiens fans who want to see him jailed.

I still have zero confidence in both teams. I just need to say that publicly. The Bruins going out in five games is only marginally better than going out in four, and if this is the best Red Sox team in history then I am a monkey's uncle. Still, enjoy it while you can.